Summer Solstice Sans A/C

Today was the longest day of the year and damn was it hot. Turns out, this June has been the hottest on record in this area. It also happens to be the June that we're spending without air conditioning in a basement on a farm, nice. We do have a little portable unit that we stand in front of and aim directly at us while we sleep.

We wouldn't have survived the almost 100 degree weather and extreme humidity of this week without it. I would have cracked and been at a hotel in town. There's drywall next to the air conditioner because the contractors had to cut open the ceiling in our little room to fix a problem. Louis was taking a nap and woke up with a yell when he saw our three main contractors standing next to the bed staring at the ceiling. They didn't even notice he was there when they walked in so they yelled when he yelled. Wish I had it on tape! 

Today was a big day because the countertops arrived! Two Chinese brothers do the delivery and installation for the company we're working with. They both wore back braces which made it seem like they were going to jump on each others shoulders and do a Circ du Soleil routine at any minute. Here they are carrying it in-

Here's a picture of Jeff (our main contractor) at the island-

I'm LOVING the granite. It brings in all the whites, creams and browns in the kitchen. It's like the rug from the Big Lebowski, it just pulls the room together. And now, let's take a minute and enjoy a few gratuitous White Spring granite pics-

OooOooOOoo!

Aaaahhhhh!

Yeah!

When they were going to set the counters they noticed that the cabinets weren't level at the ends near the double oven and the fridge. FYI- there were lots of quirky issues during cabinet install because neither the ceilings or floors in the house are level, they wave all over the place. SO- the cabinet guy has to come back out....no kitchen for us just yet. BUT countertops are half the battle!

On a positive note, almost all of the plumbing is done! CQ has been working away to install all the toilets, sinks and the tub faucet that I am in love with. If anyone needs me, you can find me sitting in the tub, likely fully clothed. I just like it there! The tub faucet is so pretty-

The telephone sprayer is awesome!

The half bath is ready to go now which means my search for wallpaper is game ON. Only problem is, I have no idea where to shop for wallpaper. Online forums can't be trusted. I need to see samples. 

I'm really happy with the way that floor came out and I'm glad I went with a new pedestal sink from HD instead of trying to refinish an old one. That might have taken forever. 

Lots of wallpaper area in there, as you can see, so I need to pick something good. My battle is to find something classic, farm-y, garden, bird or floral but not girlie. 

The full shared bath is also ready to go now which means I'm on the hunt for a shower curtain and rod. Sounds like a nice excuse to go outlet mall shopping during the hottest part of the day tomorrow, yay!

CQ also installed the master bath pump-style faucets and I'm super excited to use them! 

The mirror is getting installed tomorrow as well as the lighting fixtures. Speaking of lighting fixtures, here's the kitchen chandelier with bulbs we finally remembered to buy-

I'm still tinkering around with my jar lights for the pantry and I'm getting close! I'm really enjoying making my own lighting fixture. 

I got the rest of the supplies I needed today and then had to decide between the big jar or the small ones. I ended up choosing the small ones because they look cuter in a cluster of three and they are jars given to me by my mom last summer when she canned beets. See mom? Your legendary beets will live on! 

The little light bulbs I got are the perfect size. Here's a sneak peek of two jars whose wires I have yet to wrap. 

The terra cotta pots in the picture are my porch herb garden. They love it out there and are all thriving. I think it's the compost-tea I've been drizzling over everything. The ONE thing giving me crap is an eggplant...plant that I...planted last week. It's listless and sad no matter what I do. Too much sun? Too much water? Who knows. 

The squash, watermelon, corn, beans, brussel sprouts, dahlias and tomatoes are doing great. Here are a few garden pics, my shoe is for scale!

Watermelon-

 

Squash-

Brussel Sprouts-

Corn- 

(that will DEFINITELY be knee high by the 4th of July! It was touch and go but they're almost knee high right now!)

Cow Peas planted last week-

Soybeans planted on the same day last week-

Radishes planted last week-

My circle design in the middle of the garden is still just dirt. Only those little radishes have sprouted, everything else has a two week germination period. I'm waiting patiently for two patches of sunflowers I planted to sprout as well. I'm really looking forward to using them for cut flowers and snacking on sunflower seeds!

There are two apple and one pear tree in the front yard. I'd thought they were all apple but I got a closer look when I was on the tractor. I knew it wasn't apples when I got close but then I debated between fig or pear and after some research I realized it's pear! I love pears despite my jokes that they're not worth buying unless you can carry them around 24/7 since they're ripe for a whole minute before going bad!

Pear tree pic-

It's no wonder the deer love our property. It'll be interesting to see if a bunch come around when the apples and pears ripen. I saw a pack of deer running in a field next to the garden yesterday. I'm sure I can rig something to scare them off, cans tied to strings maybe. A baby fawn ran up to us the other day and when we moved it turned and raced away. No mother in sight and you'd better believe that within the 30 seconds it got close to us I envisioned raising it myself like the Yearling except it can have all the apples it wants and stay forever! Oh well.